NEW YORK – Sometime at the end of last season, the Providence men’s basketball team became a good team. It won eight of its final 11 games, almost sneaking into the NCAA Tournament.This off-season, the Friar’s became a great team. At least that’s what they say.’This is an elite team,’ PC center Marcus Douthit said. ‘Everybody can see the weapons that we have. Coaches are going to have a scouting report on us. But it’s going to be a long list because there’s nowhere I can see a flaw in our game. It’s like we’re an all-star team. We have so many weapons.’There’s reason for the cocksure attitude. Abdul Mills, who led PC in scoring two years ago with 13.5 points a game but missed all of last season with a hip injury, returns. The Friars have more experience than any Big East team, with nine returning players and five seniors. Big East coaches voted the Friars to finish fifth in the conference, just two votes behind defending champion Pittsburgh.But that’s not lofty according to Providence. It’s an underestimate.’Don’t nobody respect us right now,’ Douthit said. ‘I’m quite sure that at the end of the year, they’ll know they should have picked us a lot higher than what we are. Providence has always been underrated. This is the year to prove that we’re at least one of the top three teams in the Big East.’At least one Friar, though, earned recognition. Ryan Gomes, who averaged 18.4 points and 9.7 rebounds last year, was voted to the preseason All-Big East First Team. Gomes, a 6-foot-7 forward, built on his breakout sophomore season this summer, expanding his offensive game to the perimeter. Douthit joked he hadn’t seen Gomes enter the paint in a week of practice.’He’s going to have impact like (former Georgetown center Michael) Sweetney,’ West Virginia head coach John Beilein said. ‘But he’s more of a scorer.”He’s going to be a star in the country,’ Providence coach Tim Welsh said. ‘Last year, he thought he was good. Now he knows he’s good.’He should fit in with the rest of the Friars. After Providence switched to zone in place of man-to-man defense at the end of last season, it reeled off eight wins in its last 11 games, a run that emboldened an already experienced team.’We’re not going to be satisfied until we at least – I mean at least – get to the Sweet 16,’ Douthit said.’We’re better than just making it to the NCAA Tournament and losing one game in the first round,’ Gomes said. ‘This is our best team since I’ve been here.’

On pointA burden comes with being a New York City point guard. There’s a tradition to uphold and hype to live up to.Four years ago, three point guards from New York – Taliek Brown, Andre Barrett and Omar Cook – found out firsthand. The trio headed to the Big East in a hailstorm of hype. They’d turn the Big East into their personal playground with their city passing and ball-handling flair. Two of the guards – Barrett of Seton Hall and Brown of Connecticut – will lead their teams as seniors this season. The other, Cook, turned into a cautionary tale when he left St. John’s for the NBA draft after his freshman season and went undrafted.’We had a lot of hype coming in, and I think that’s something we deserved,’ Barrett said. ‘On the next level, everyone went their own ways. I think all three of us has gotten better as a person and player.’Cook’s had the toughest path of maturation. Since declaring for the draft, he’s become a poster child for why players shouldn’t leave early. ‘You could always think about it,’ SJU coach Mike Jarvis said. ‘I don’t try to. He’s disappointed. One thing he hasn’t done is quit.’Cook still plays basketball and hasn’t stopped chasing a future in the NBA. He works out in the summer with Brown and Barrett. The trio still share a bond from their days as prep players whose names were splashed across headlines.’As a person, (Cook)’s gotten a lot better with people and media,’ Barrett said. ‘He’s maturing. He made a decision, and he’s going to live with his decision. I don’t think that his decision was wrong. That’s something he felt deep in his heart that he could do.’Meanwhile, Brown and Barrett have enjoyed varied results. Both players were handed a starting spot when they were freshmen. Though Brown will command the No. 1 team in the country once the season starts, one Big East player called him the conference’s most overrated player. As a junior, he averaged 7.7 points.At just 5 feet, 10 inches, Barrett averaged 16.7 points last season and played with Team USA basketball this summer. After having the ball in his hands for the past three years, he might be the Big East’s best leader.’He’s a winner,’ Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. ‘He had that team on a roll. It was only a matter of time, and we all feared it in our league.’

Meet the new guyAfter head coach Ben Howland left Pittsburgh this off-season to coach UCLA, Pitt players didn’t notice much of a change when his protg, Jaime Dixon, took over.’The biggest difference is coach Dixon is a little younger,’ Pitt center Toree Morris said. ‘So he still has most of his hair.’It’s not going to be much of difference. We’re going to continue to play our same game.’Indeed, Dixon has changed little about Pitt’s program. He runs the same offensive system and runs practice the same, save cracking a few more jokes than the fiery Howland. That makes sense, considering Pitt, last year’s Big East champion, has become one of the Big East’s best teams.’I’m not looking to have an ego and call it my program,’ Dixon said. ‘This our program. It’s Pitt’s program. Our players were recruited for our system. To change that just to call it my system would be foolish.’Dixon remains close with Howland. They speak almost daily and compare notes on recruits. Earlier this week, Howland’s daughter visited Dixon at his home.The Panthers wanted the familiarity that Dixon would bring. When Howland left, Pitt players went to Pitt’s chancellor and petitioned to make Dixon their new head coach.’It brought us together a lot,’ Pitt point guard Jaron Brown said. ‘Once he got the job, we got even closer.’

This and thatThe only other new coach in the Big East is Seth Greenberg at Virginia Tech. He’ll only be a part of the Big East for one season because Tech is moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season. Ironically, he used to coach South Florida, which had been rumored to be a part of possible Big East expansion. … Coaches voted Miami senior Darius Rice to the Preseason All-Big East First Team for the third consecutive season. He’s yet to receive postseason honors. … This is the Big East’s 25th season as a basketball conference. … Rutgers coach Gary Waters ditched his old offense for a new, more free-flowing style. He said he’ll have 6-foot-10 Herve Lamizana play point forward at times. … With the loss of Sweetney, Georgetown will also change its style, head coach Craig Esherick said. The Hoyas will play more up-tempo and be less picky with their shot selection. … One Big East player on Syracuse forward Hakim Warrick: ‘He’s the most overrated player. He feeds off of what everybody gives him. He really hasn’t shown me nothing he can do if he has to score. He hasn’t shown me that he’s a go-to man.’